THE NEW YORK RIPPER
A blade-wielding psychopath is on the loose, turning The Big Apple bright red with the blood of beautiful young women. As NYPD detectives follow the trail of butchery from the decks of the Staten Island Ferry to the sex shows of Times Square, each brutal murder becomes a sadistic taunt. In the city that never sleeps, he’s the killer that can’t be stopped!
Director: Lucio Fulci
Writers: Gianfranco Clerici (story), Vincenzo Mannino(story), Lucio Fulci(story)
Stars: Jack Hedley, Almanta Suska, Howard Ross
Rating: 8.5 / 10 Stars
REVIEW – There are a handful of films that even with my jaded tastes make me wanna soak in a shower for hours, lathering myself up until my lumpy frame wrinkles up like a prune. One of note that does just that incredibly well is Lucio Fulci’s highly controversial, The New York Ripper. Censored just about everywhere it’s been released because of it’s over the top sadistic violence towards women, The New York Ripper has a special place in many a gore fans black heart. It’s truly a unique beast as it’s not only horrific but it’s also hilarious. For those of you not in tune with the plot – what there is of it – of The New York Ripper, there’s a serial killer running around with a straight-razor slashing and gutting women around the Big Apple. The ladies don’t just get stabbed or sliced – they’re brutally mutilated by this menace. To make things more interesting (or ridiculous) the psycho quacks like a duck. Leave it to Lt. Fred Williams (Jack Hedley, For Your Eyes Only) to save the day… err at least until the bodies pile up to a sufficient amount to please Fulci. The acting is pretty bad in The New York Ripper and the horrible dubbing doesn’t help either. It really doesn’t matter though as this film is all about the Grand Guignol antics.
You get the impression after viewing The New York Ripper that Fulci didn’t care what people thought. He set out to put on screen what he wanted whether it offended or not. This is why he’s truly one of a kind. One victim is getting tortured and slashed up by the quacking maniac with small razor. The one bit cut from the film is a nipple slicing that the ripper performs on the bound woman. Would I like to have had this scene in? Yes. I will say though the editing is very well done so it really isn’t noticeable unless you’ve seen the film several times like I have. I still think there are much nastier scenes in the film aside from the one in question. Alexandra Delli Colli’s character, Jane, gets cut from her vagina up through the top of her stomach. Blue Underground has done an excellent job on the transfer. It’s really quite lovely at times and noticeable early in the film. During the opening scene that shows a man playing fetch with his dog, it’s especially vibrant in its detail. The audio is clear and on par with the picture quality. The English dub is available as are subtitles and an option for the original Italian language track. Fulci completists will be pleased to see the additional footage and extra features on the disc in addition to a sound restoration of one of the most vile slashers ever produced.
THE NEW YORK RIPPER | Official Trailer:
